These names are used primarily to refer to historical saints and other ecclesiastical figures. They are not commonly used by other people.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
AbdiesusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Means "servant of Jesus" from Arabic عبد ('abd) meaning "servant" combined with Iesus. This was the name of multiple Persian saints.
AbibusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Latinized form of Ἄβιβος (Abibos) or (Habibos), which is also found written as Ἄββιβος (Abbibos) or (Habbibos). It is a hellenization of the Hebrew name Aviv, and not of the Arabic name Habib, which most people would think at first glance.... [more]
AcariusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Acarius (died 14 March 642) was bishop of Doornik and Noyon, which today are located on either side of the Franco-Belgian border. He was especially attentive to the poor and afflicted, whose needs he enjoyed relieving and calming their suffering.
AceolusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Aceolus of Amiens worked as a sub-deacon who was studying for the priesthood when he was arrested and murdered as part of the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian in 303 near Amiens, France.
AchillasmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Bishop and theologian who lived in an era of dispute in the Church. Achillas was the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, one of the most powerful cities in the world at the time. Succeeding as bishop a man named St... [more]
AdelphusmLate Roman, History (Ecclesiastical) Derived from Greek ἀδελφός (adelphós) "brother" (literally "from the same womb", from the copulative prefix a- "together with" and delphys "womb"). Adelphus was a bishop of Metz, France, who is now venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
AdomnánmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Adomnán (c.625–704) was ninth abbot of the monastery on Iona off the Scottish coast, and comarba (head) of the confederation of churches associated with St Columba/Colum Cille. Like Columba, Adomnán came from what is now County Donegal... [more]
AdonmHistory (Ecclesiastical) French form of Ado. Adon de Vienne (known as Ado of Vienne in English) was archbishop of Vienne in Lotharingia from 850 until his death and is venerated as a saint.
AedesiusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Martyr and brother of St. Apphian. Aedesius, a Christian of some note in Caesarea, now part of modern Israel, witnessed the persecution of Christians, the result of Emperor Diocletian's policies... [more]
AfreliafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Afrelia was a late 6th century saint, and princess of Powys. It has been suggested that she may be identical to the little-known Saint Arilda of Gloucester.
AgabiusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Agabus /ˈæɡəbəs/ (Greek: Ἄγαβος) was an early follower of Christianity mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as a prophet. He is traditionally remembered as one of the Seventy Disciples described in Luke 10:1–24
AgapitusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Martyr in the reign of Emperor Aurelian. Buried in Palestrina, in Italy, Agapitus is traditionally identified as a fifteen-year old caught in the persecutions of the Christians in Antioch. He was brought before the governor when he announced his faith... [more]
AgobardmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Agobard of Lyon (c. 779–840) was a Spanish-born priest and archbishop of Lyon, during the Carolingian Renaissance. The author of multiple treatises, ranging in subject matter from the iconoclast controversy to Spanish Adoptionism to critiques of the Carolingian royal family, Agobard is best known for his critiques of Jewish religious practices and political power in the Frankish-Carolingian realm... [more]
AignanmFrench (Rare), History (Ecclesiastical) French form of Anianus. Saint Aignan (358–453) was Bishop of Orléans, France, and assisted Roman general Flavius Aetius in the defense of the city against Attila the Hun in 451.
ApphianmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Aphian (Apphian, Apian, Appian, Amphianus, Amphian; Amfiano in Spanish and Italian) is venerated as a martyr by the Catholic Church and by the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is said to have died during the persecutions of the Emperor Galerius on April 2 in or around the year 305.
ArianwenfMedieval Welsh, Welsh, History (Ecclesiastical) Derived from Welsh arian "silver" and gwen "white, fair, blessed". According to legend, Arianwen verch Brychan was the daughter of Brychan Brycheiniog and later went on to become a saint herself.
ArildafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Arilda was an obscure female saint from Oldbury-on-Severn in the English county of Gloucestershire who probably lived in the 5th- or 6th-century. She may have been of either Anglo-Saxon or Welsh origin.
AudifaxmHistory (Ecclesiastical) The best-known (and possibly the first) bearer of this name is saint Audifax, who was of noble descent and born in the Persian Empire. Somewhere between 268 and 270 AD, he went on a pilgrimage to Rome with his parents and brother, whose names were Marius, Martha and Abachum (also known as Habakkuk)... [more]
BudocmHistory (Ecclesiastical), Breton Legend Derived from Old Celtic boudi "victory". However, folk etymology likes to associate this name with beuziñ meaning "drown", with the intended meaning of "saved from the waters". In Breton legend this is the name of a 6th century saint, son of Azenor.
BurianafHistory (Ecclesiastical, Latinized) This was the name of an Irish saint who lived during the 6th-century, a hermit in St Buryan, near Penzance, Cornwall. She is identified with the Irish Saint Bruinsech.
CælinmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Cælin was an Orthodox priest in England in the seventh century, and brother of St. Cedd of Lastingham. The name Cælin is a spelling variant of the name of a West Saxon king Ceawlin, and is of Celtic rather than Anglo-Saxon derivation.
CelerinusmLate Roman, History (Ecclesiastical) Derived from the Latin word celer, meaning "quick, swift", followed by the masculine diminutive suffix -inus. This was the name of an African martyr, revered for his suffering while imprisoned by Emperor TrajanDecius in Rome... [more]
ChrysanthusmAncient Greek (Latinized), History (Ecclesiastical) Latinized form of Chrysanthos. Saints Chrysanthus and Daria (3rd century – c. 283) are saints of the Early Christian period. Their names appear in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, an early martyrs list, and a church was built in their honour over their reputed burial place in Rome.
ConsortiafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Derived from the Latin adjective consors meaning "having a common lot, of the same fortune" (genitive consortis). This name was borne by a 6th-century saint who is said to be venerated at Cluny, France.
CubymHistory (Ecclesiastical) Cornish form of Cybi. Saint Cuby was a 6th-century Cornish bishop, saint and, briefly, king, who worked largely in North Wales.
DerwafCornish, History (Ecclesiastical) Likely derived from Cornish derow "oak trees" (ultimately from Proto-Celtic *daru "tree"). Saint Derwa is the patron saint of Menadarva (Merther Derwa in Cornish, translating to grave of St Derwa in English) in the parish of Camborne, Cornwall... [more]
DevotafHistory (Ecclesiastical), Ligurian Saint Devota (died ca. 303 AD) is the patron saint of Corsica and Monaco. She is sometimes identified with another Corsican saint named Julia, who was described in Latin as Deo devota ("devoted to God")... [more]
DisciolefHistory (Ecclesiastical) Meaning unknown. The 6th-century Frankish saint Disciole (or Disciola), a niece of Saint Salvius of Albi and a favourite companion of Queen Radegund, "was noted for her saintly death, which is described in detail by Gregory of Tours".
ElidiusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) This name is best known for being one of the names that the 8th-century Cornish hermit saint Lide (also known as Elid, Elida, Elide, Lyda and Lyde) was known by... [more]
ElwenmCornish, Welsh, History (Ecclesiastical) Saint Elwen was an early saint venerated in Cornwall and Brittany. A chapel at Porthleven in Sithney parish, Cornwall, dedicated to Elwen, existed from the 13th century until 1549, and in Brittany several sites and placenames are associated with possibly related figures.
EobanmMedieval Dutch, History (Ecclesiastical) Eoban (died 5 June 754 at Dokkum) was a companion of St. Boniface, and was martyred with him on his final mission. In Germany, he is revered as a bishop and martyr.
ÉrigemHistory (Ecclesiastical, Gallicized) French form of Arigius. Saint Érige is venerated in the Southern French Alps, in Saint-Etienne de Tinée and in Auron nearby where a chapel to his name is located.
EulabiosmLate Greek, History (Ecclesiastical) Derived from the Greek noun εὐλάβεια (eulabeia) meaning "discretion, caution" (see Eulabeia). Also compare the Greek adjective εὐλαβής (eulabes) meaning "taking hold well, holding fast, clinging" as well as "discreet, cautious, undertaking prudently".
EustochiafPolish (Rare, ?), History (Ecclesiastical) From a Greek word meaning "well-aimed", derived from εὖ (eu) "good" and στόχος (stochos) "an aim, shot". This was borne by Saint Eustochia Calafato, a 15th-century nun from Sicily.
EvelliusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Evellius (died 66 AD) was an early Christian martyr. He was a counselor to Nero, but was eventually martyred at Pisa after he converted to Christianity.
FoscafItalian, History (Ecclesiastical) Feminine form of Fosco. Raised in a pagan family, at age 15 Saint Fosca converted to Christianity and was baptized along with her nursemaid, Saint Maura... [more]
GratafHistory (Ecclesiastical), Late Roman Feminine form of Gratus. A famous bearer of this name was Justa Grata Honoria (5th century), the sister of the Western Roman emperor Valentinian III. It was also borne by Saint Grata of Bergamo, an early 4th-century martyr.
GuriasmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Latinized form of Γουρίας (Gourias), which is a hellenization of a name that was of Aramaic or Hebrew origin. It was derived from either Aramaic גורי (gure) or Hebrew גוּר (gur), which both mean "lion cub, young lion"... [more]
HunnafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Feminine form of Huno. Saint Hunna (died ca. 679) is a French saint who devoted herself to serving the poor women of Strasbourg, France. Because she undertook to do the washing for her needy neighbors, she was nicknamed by her contemporaries "The Holy Washerwoman".
IafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Of unknown origin and meaning. Saint Ia was a 5th-century Cornish virgin martyr, an Irish princess, according to popular tradition, who travelled to Cornwall as a missionary and was martyred on the River Hayle under Tudur Mawr, ruler of Penwith... [more]
IndaletiusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Meaning uncertain, though allegedly derived from indal eccius which is said to mean "messenger of the gods" in a language of pre-Roman Iberia (present-day Spain and Portugal). This is the name of the patron saint of Almería, Spain - a 1st-century Christian martyr.
IrajafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Iraja and her brother Abadir are saints in the Coptic Church and the Roman Catholic Church. They are reported to have been children of the sister of Basilides, the father of kings... [more]
KeynefHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Keyne was a 5th-century holy woman and hermitess who is said to have traveled widely through what is now South Wales and Cornwall. The only literary source on the life of Saint Keyne, however, is the Vita Sanctae Keynae, which was edited by John of Tynemouth and included in his Sanctilogium Angliae Walliae Scotiae et Hiberniae in the 14th century.
KinniafHistory (Ecclesiastical) According to legend, Saint Kinnia, a 5th-century daughter of an Irish chieftain, was baptized by Saint Patrick and is said to have been the first nun to follow his teachings. She lived in the convent of Druim Dubhain which was founded by Saint Patrick.
LandelinmHistory (Ecclesiastical), German (Archaic), Banat Swabian Variant of Landolin. Saint Landelin (c.625-686, Belgium) was a former brigand who underwent a Christian conversion. As a result of this, in about 650 he founded a monastery at Lobbes in Hainaut - Lobbes Abbey - in order to make amends to the area which he had formerly injured.
LibertusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) This name is probably best known for being the name of Libertus of Saint-Trond, a Belgian saint from the 8th century AD. There are two possibilities for the etymology of his name: it is either derived from Latin libertus meaning "freedman" (though the name could also be considered to be a masculinization of the feminine Latin name Libertas) or it is a latinization of his original Germanic name... [more]
MadronmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Madron was a Pre-Congregational Saint, monk and hermit who was was born in Cornwall and a disciple of Saint Ciarán of Saigir. Both the village of Madron and St Maddern's Church in Cornwall are named for him... [more]
MaginusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Maginus was a Catalan hermit in the late third and early fourth centuries in Tarragona. Upon the arrival of the Roman prefect Dacian to Tarragona, persecuting Christians under the edict of Emperor Maximian, Maginus tried to convert them to the faith and was imprisoned... [more]
MaranafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Meaning unknown. This was the name of a 5th-century Christian saint, a hermit from Beroea in Syria who was martyred with her companion Cyra.
MaronmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Maron was a 4th-century Syriac Christian hermit monk in the Taurus Mountains whose followers, after his death, founded a religious Christian movement that became known as the Syriac Maronite Church, in full communion with the Holy See and the Catholic Church... [more]
MilesmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Miles was was the bishop of Susa in Sasanian Persia from before 315 until his martyrdom in 340 or 341. He engaged in efforts to evangelize Susa, traveled widely in the Eastern Roman Empire and led the opposition to Papa bar ʿAggai and the supremacy of the bishops of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in the Persian church... [more]
MokiosmLate Greek, History (Ecclesiastical) Derived from the Greek noun μωκία (mokia) meaning "mockery". Also compare the Greek noun μῶκος (mokos) meaning "mocker, mockery".... [more]
MucianmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Mucian is a martyr of the early Christian Church. He was killed with a sword with two other men, named Mark and Paul, as well as a little boy whose name is unknown.
MutienmWalloon (Rare), History (Ecclesiastical) Mutien-Marie Wiaux was a Belgian member of the Brothers of Christian Schools who spent his life as a teacher and is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. He took his religious name from the roman martyr Mucianus.
NéomayefFrench (Rare, Archaic), History (Ecclesiastical) From Latin Neomadia, the meaning of which is uncertain. This was the name of a French saint who is mainly venerated in the Poitou region. She is the patron saint of shepherds.... [more]
PhosteriosmLate Greek, History (Ecclesiastical) Derived from φωστῆρος (phosteros), which is the genitive singular of the Greek noun φωστήρ (phoster) meaning "that which gives light" as well as "splendour, radiance".... [more]
PigmeniusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) This name is best known for being the name of the 4th-century saint Pigmenius of Rome, who was martyred during the reign of the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate (died in 363 AD)... [more]
PorcariusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Porcarius (died c. 732) was a Benedictine abbot who governed the Abbey of Lérins off the coast of the French Riviera.
QuinidiusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Catholic saint, hermit and bishop. He was originally a hermit in the region of Aix in Provence, France, becoming bishop of Vaison in that region.
RuffinusmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Wulfhade and Ruffinus were martyrs of England. Little is known about them with any certainty, although according to tradition they were two princes of Mercia who were baptized by St. Chad and were swiftly executed by their pagan father... [more]
SamonasmHistory, History (Ecclesiastical) Hellenized form of Shamuna, which is a name that is likely to be of Semitic origin (e.g. Arabic, Aramaic or Hebrew). Its meaning is as of yet uncertain.... [more]
SebaldmGerman (Archaic), History (Ecclesiastical) Contraction of Siegbald. Saint Sebald was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to Germany in the 9th or 10th century. He settled down as a hermit in the Reichswald near Nuremberg, of which city he is the patron saint... [more]
SidwellfHistory (Ecclesiastical) Anglicized form of Sadfyl. Saint Sidwell was a virgin saint from the English county of Devon. The Catalogus Sanctorum Pausantium in Anglia describes her as a native of Exeter who was beheaded by reapers, who were incited so to do by her stepmother... [more]
TedhafHistory (Ecclesiastical), Medieval Cornish Cornish form of Tedda. This name was borne by a 5th-century virgin and saint in Wales and Cornwall. Early Latin records, however, mention the saint by the name Tecla (itself a form of the name Thecla borne by the first female martyr in Christianity) and consider her a companion of Breaca, while in Cornish sources, she was listed among the daughters of Brychan, king of Brycheiniog in Wales... [more]
TeilomWelsh, History (Ecclesiastical) From Teilio, which was originally a diminutive of Eiludd, composed of the Welsh pronoun ty meaning "thy, your" prefixed to a diminutive of Eiludd... [more]
TeneufHistory (Ecclesiastical) Teneu is a legendary Christian saint who was venerated in medieval Glasgow, Scotland. Traditionally she was a sixth-century Brittonic princess of the ancient kingdom of Gododdin and the mother of Saint Kentigern, apostle to the Britons of Strathclyde and founder of the city of Glasgow... [more]
UlphiafHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Ulphia of Amiens was said to be a young girl living on the banks of the Noye who became a hermit at what would become Saint-Acheul, near Amiens in the Kingdom of the Franks, under the spiritual direction of Saint Domitius... [more]
UnafGerman, History (Ecclesiastical) Variant of Hunna. Saint Una or Hunna (died ca. 679) is a French saint who devoted herself to serving the poor women of Strasbourg, France. Because she undertook to do the washing for her needy neighbors, she was nicknamed by her contemporaries "The Holy Washerwoman".
WalstanmHistory (Ecclesiastical) Saint Walstan (died 1016) was born either in Bawburgh in Norfolk, or Blythburgh in Suffolk, and because of a life dedicated to farming and the care of farm animals, is the patron saint of farms, farmers, farmhands, ranchers and husbandry men.
WilfretrudisfHistory (Ecclesiastical) Variant or corrupted form of Vulfedrudis, which was a Latinized form of Wulfetrude or Wulftrude, itself derived from the Germanic elements wulf meaning "wolf" and thrud "strength" (alternatively, the second element could be *trut "maiden")... [more]
WilgefortisfMedieval, History (Ecclesiastical) This name is best known for being the name of a late medieval saint, who was discovered to be fictional in the late 16th century but continued to be venerated in some places until 1969, when the Church finally removed her from the liturgical calendar and supressed her cult... [more]